OKC Kayak Word Soup

I am currently having somewhat of a religious experience that I would like to share with you, the reader. I am a jamming out to loud music while trying to find out where my bed is (a.ka. working to file away some of the mountain of paperwork that is hiding the place where I once used to sleep.)

For those of you who might not know me real well, I am about as frugal of a person as you may ever meet. I like to make my limited financial resources stretch as far as I can. Today I did splurge on a CD (not the kind the bank sells), newly released by one of my favorite bands, Three Doors Down. Now, don’t ask me the album title, nor any of the words, but I will tell you that listening to it does put me in mood which is empowering to the point which is almost indescribable.

This same “natural high” is often experienced in the daily rituals of running this business. Whether it is leading a trip for a group of good humored and enthusiastic, first time kayakers, or delivering freshly purchased kayaks until 11 p.m. only to start the process all over at 6 a.m. the next day, it is a conglomerate of all these things that leaves me completely fulfilled. I guess the point I am trying to convey is that this company and our friends making it possible will always be greater than just “customers” and a “business”. Our goal has always been to be so much more to the community than a place to go “buy boats”. For, to simply be salemen and women does not leave us fulfilled.

Not understanding this just yet? Try delivering a boat to a newly single-again mother who has scraped up every penny she could find, just so that she could prove to herself that she could rediscover self-worth by engaging independently in a recreational pursuit all her own. Don’t we all need some way get away from it all, time to reflect on ourselves, recharge our batteries, and heal from whatever painful challenges may have crossed our paths? Still not understanding? Stand face to face to an older woman who is nearly in tears after paddling a kayak for about thirty minutes. For the last fourty years she has been removed from the happier times spent in childhood paddling a remote lake in Germany. Today, it all came back to her as she rediscovered the possibilities to relive these good times. Whether it be seeing the younger sister that arranged a kayak trip as purposeful time to reconnect with her older brother, or giving a bright but lost young man looking for his place in the world meaningful employment as well as friendship, we live every day absolutely fulfilled.

No matter who you are, or whatever challenges life may be handing you, there is a place for you at OKC Kayak. As I tried to describe to several people this week, we offer the same kind of fellowship, friendship, and support that many are afforded by a church home. (… and we never pass a collection plate around!)

…..and the chorus of the song speaks: Holding the light for the ones we guide from the dark of despair, Standing on guard for the ones we shelter, We’ll always be ready, because we will always be there. ….on that day you don’t have the strength for the burden that you bear, I’ll be right here.

Well, we just wrapped up another fun river trip to the currents of the Illinois.  Once again we had an extra fun bunch along for the trip.  Amongst the cast of characters were a father and daughter who teased each other all day as they strengthened family bonds.  We also had a brother and sister and husband and wife pair on board with us.  (Fortunately, these were not one in the same!)  The “brother” picked up kayaking real quick, but did not exactly ace the test on kayaking terminology.  We knew this when he repeatly tried to cross into the “Earl”.  The rest of us just settled for catching an eddy instead.  We jumped from boat to boat as we tried different flavors of kayaks.  Some say the best part of the trip was watching the local redneck rafters being forcefully removed from their watercraft as they mistakenly tried to hang on to the branches of a low lying tree limb.  The same segment of local flavor would also make a proposal or two to some of the folks on our trip.  Sadly, we got the same gas mileage coming home though, as nobody accepted any of these offers. 

The grande finale on the trip was a visit to a local barbecue shack that was said to be real good.  We ate hearty plates of ribs, catfish, and hotlinks as we marveled at all the oversized bullets which were being used as wall decorations.  We left promptly when we saw three boys from the local arm of the law walk in, as we think they wanted their ammo back. 

This was just enough foodstuffs to put everyone except the drivers to sleep for the remainder of the three hour ride home.  For those of you were on this trip or others, I would love to post a picture or two on the site or the blog, so do be forwarding these to me.  Oh, and next time the rest of you paddle with us, ask about the gal who was in the movie “Weekend at Bernies”. 

A big thank you to all those that made it out to the recent demo days.  We put well over 100 people into a variety of different flavors of kayaks.  Muchas Gracias to the helper elves (Yeah, you know who you are) and to Bill Bequart and Joanna DeMoe of the OKC Outdoor Network who organized the event.  The feedback from this festival has been astounding.

I received a call the other day from a guy wanting to line up a kayak rental. He indicated that he was in from out of town taking some classes at the FAA training center. He then mentioned that he needed to get in a boat because he was preparing for the Bay 2 Bay race in San Diego.

I spend a big portion of the colder months in San Diego and have made a lof of friends out that way, so I inquired if he knew my friend Jenn Kleck that owns a kayak shop in Mission Bay. Indeed he did. Not only that, but come to find out, I have met this guy before while kayaking with a local club in San Diego, the Night Herons. Well, after comparing notes about a bunch of our mutual friends, we got him into a kayak then sent him packing with his newly purchased OKC Kayak shirt to wear into Aqua Adventures. We will see if Jenn even notices. I did make him promise to steer clear of Sorrento Valley, because Kevin, who does our website, lives up that way and is still waiting for his OKC Kayak shirt.

Real Quick:

U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Canoe/Kayak (Slalom)
Sunday, May 11 Noon-1:00 pm ET MSNBC*

Yesterday morning, I had the pleasure of taking out three generations of a family.  One of the family members had no use of their lower body.  Using items learned from our ACA adaptive paddling training, we were still able to put her in a tandem kayak with me.  She wore a lifejacket over her back brace, and we supported her upper body with extra PFDs.  Her legs were kept in position by additional padding.  Everybody on the paddle experienced a true sense of joy to see her being able to enjoy kayaking and quality time spent with family.  This is why we love our job